BUIES CREEK, N.C. – USC Upstate volleyball returned to the court on Saturday evening for the first time since Nov. 16, 2019. The season-opening match did not go in favor of the Spartans, as the squad fell in straight sets to Campbell University on the road.
Six Spartans made their debut in Upstate green in the first set. The Spartans struggled on the attack in the first frame, falling 25-12, but were able to shake it off and come out for a strong battle in the second and third sets.
Upstate jumped out to a 4-0 lead to open the second set after a couple Campbell errors and a service ace from Kelly Wiedemann and kill from Bri Strobert. The Camels took their first lead of the set at 11-10. From there, it was a back-and-forth matchup. However, after Wiedemann's kill knotted things up at 20, Campbell took the last five points in the set to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Wiedemann got the Spartans off to a good start once again in the third with a set-opening kill, and Upstate was able to take four straight points for a 5-2 lead. A pair of attack errors and another kill from Strobert eventually pushed Upstate's lead to 8-3 and forced a Campbell timeout. The Camels pulled within two points of the Spartans out of that timeout, but Upstate still controlled the lead after a service ace from Emma McElveen and an attack error by the Camels put the Spartans up 11-6. Back-to-back kills by Courtney Coffy helped Upstate's advantage reach 14-10, but Campbell responded with a 6-1 run to take a 16-15 lead. Upstate then went on its own 6-1 run, but after being up 23-20, Campbell was once again able to take the last five points in the set and clinch the match.
Notes
UP next for the Spartans
Upstate will look to bounce back tomorrow and split the series with Campbell beginning at 2 p.m.
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